Racer control panel cover (dashboard)

[trick72]

Hi,
I have vague plans to build my own arcade racer from scratch.
From the help of this great forum, I think I can manage the actual woodwork for the cabinet itself.
What I don't know yet however is how I would manage to create a car "dashboard" from scratch that would fit around my PC steering wheel on the cabinet. Sure, I can stick some self-made stickers of some speed meters etc. but I would like to create some kind of nice rounded shape, which looks like something found in the more recent arcade racers. Example in the attached picture.
Does someone have experience with creating something? Any ideas on material to use? Perhaps fiberglass?
Any ideas are very welcome.
Thank you
Patrick

[Howard_Casto]

Okay the easiest way?  Cut out the front of the dashboard you want to make with the curve in there like in your pic.  Get yourself some thin board that bends easy, like 1/8th inch plywood.  Start gluing/screwing one layer after another to the top of your dash front to make that curve.... when you get the thickness you want, stop and trim the edges of all those boards to be flush.  Now cover with vinyl or fill with wood putty to make it look like a single piece. 

I hope that makes sense to you.

[trick72]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Yes it makes sense...

I think within ten years, when 3D printing becomes a common device... we all laugh at how many hours of work it used to take to get something like this...
With a 3d printer, we probably just quickly "draw" a control panel in our 3D PC program, and "print" it out in plastic in an hour...

Maybe i have to be more patient
Thanks

[Fursphere]

If you know how to fiberglass (its not that hard, but it is messy) you could use that thick pink and blue insulation foam to mock up whatever you want but cutting / sanding / gluing, then fiberglass over it. 

Similar to what Howard recommended, just a lot faster and easier to work with.  Fiberglass resin becomes the tricky part afterwards.  Then sanding the fiberglass smooth.

This simple video explains the process... 

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah that's why I didn't recommend it... the mess and the finishing.  I always doo pretty good until I get to the final "glassing" step and then I want to murder anyone in my immediate vicinity.  Of course once I'm done there's the winter wonderland to clean up. 

But if you have experience with it....  have at it... the result will be lighter and in the long run probably more durable.

[Fursphere]

There is that gel coat type finish too.   I'm not sure what it takes to spray that stuff (maybe available in aerosol can? google seems to imply that it is).

[Howard_Casto]

Spray can?  Really.... hmm... suddenly something appears "new fangled" to me and I feel particularly old. 

[Xiaou2]

If you like those cheesy plastic panels.. you make a general shape with wood, cardboard,  and or various odd parts... 
than use a vacuum-forming machine, to make an actual plastic shell.


 

[BadMouth]

The hard part when squeezing it over a PC wheel is that the front has to be really thin unless you extend the steering wheel shaft.

If I were going to duplicate the one in the pic:
The gauge bezels could be made out of PVC pipe cut at an angle.
The gauges themselves would just be stickers because there is no depth to work with.
The rounded top would be made the way howard suggested.

The proper way would be to make a mold, but in reality I've never taken the time to do that.
Glue stuff together+fiberglass+bondo= twice as heavy as it needs to be, but done faster and looks nice from the outside.

Check out the dashboard of my old driving cab in the stickied driving cab examples thread.

[Malenko]

find a car audio shop that builds custom enclosures for speakers. Take them a drawing with measurements.

[Howard_Casto]

I'm thinking of doing a metal one now.  I've been cleaning up and man... I've got a lot of tin.  I could probably do a whole cab clad in tin if I wanted to. 

[trick72]

Check out the dashboard of my old driving cab in the stickied driving cab examples thread.

That dashboard looks very nice indeed. It is "simpler" because it's basically flat... but it's nice and seems at least doable compared to what I had in mind.
Thanks